I'm Joanne: freelancer/blogger/social media thingy and mommy to Aisha, a beautiful little girl with Down Syndrome.

I’m often asked if pregnancy has brought out any weird food cravings. My response is largely a no – I have been eating more sweets and junk than usual, but nothing out of the ordinary, save for one honey-drizzled hamburger occurrence. If anything, being pregnant has heightened and increased my food aversions (chicken, cucumber, oranges), although I can say that there has been one notable – somewhat strange – habit that I’ve picked up seemingly out of the blue.

For the last month or so, it has been my regular pre-bed ritual to get the biggest glass I can find, and pack it full of ice cubes to crunch. Sometimes I add water, and other times I don’t…the only must is that there be a TON of ice.

I’ve read that this is a common practice among pregnant women. It’s called Pica – an uncontrollable craving to eat non-food items. Ice cravings are also common in anemics; and while I’ve dealt with low blood iron for most of my life, I’ve never craved ice this way before.

Actually, prior to getting pregnant/my third trimester, I was never a fan of ice/ice water or even cold drinks. I prefer my beverages room temperature. I think that has to do with the fact that I am always cold. I won’t eat ice cream in winter for the same reason.

Because ice is just water, I’m not at all concerned about any ill effects on my health. I do worry about how all of this ice crunching will affect my teeth. I can only tolerate the cold on the right side of my mouth; the left side is extremely sensitive to cold and sweet.

I brought it up to Dr. Freedman, and she told me that as per my research, it’s a pretty normal thing that will likely dissipate once the babe arrives.